WILL IRISH EYES SMILE IN HOBOKEN? City will host second Annual Hoboken Irish Cultural Fest -- not St. Patrick's Day Parade

Hudson Reporter

Jan 31, 2013 | 5879 views | 1 | 18 | |

HOBOKEN— Hoboken city spokesperson Juan Melli recently said that the city is working with members of the community to host the second Annual Hoboken Irish Cultural Festival in town this March. Last year was the first year that a cultural festival was held in place of the traditional Hoboken St. Patty’s Day parade, a parade that in recent years has drawn large crowds, public drinking, and safety concerns. That parade is traditionally organized by a committee independent of the city, and that committee decided last year not to hold it because the city wanted it moved from Saturday to Wednesday.

Last year would have been the parade’s 26th year running.

Mayor Dawn Zimmer recently said that Hoboken does not have the resources in terms of security to hold the parade this year.

The Hoboken St. Patrick’s Parade committee officials did not return phone calls for comment this week. Their website still has, on its homepage, a January, 2012 letter criticizing Mayor Dawn Zimmer's actions regarding the parade.

Melli said that more details were to come soon on the cultural festival.

Meanwhile, a group of independent people is also preparing to run "Hoboken Leprecon" again. Leprecon is a bar crawl that was first held last year in Hoboken on the first Saturday in March, the day the parade used to be held.

Last year Zimmer and staff were very smug about how Leprosy-con was not nearly as bad as the St. Patrick's day parade the year before. Of course, they overlooked the weather -- that in 2012, it was cold and rainy most of the day, while in 2011, unseasonably warm temperatures and sun brought out more people. Camp Zimmer better hope it rains again. Of course, knowing her, she'll probably claim credit for the weather too.